I love shooting white interiors. They have their challenges, but the end results always look so clean and crisp. This home was unbelievably stellar. There was almost zero drywall in the entire house! All millwork and paneling. The craftsmanship and finish work was some of the best I have ever seen! Photographing it was satisfying, yet challenging. This was the composition I settled on for the kitchen because it really showed off the inlaid butcher block counter with the marble island, and you could see how it was connected to the dining room with all the detail in the arches that separated them.

Here are the lighting details: one speedlight camera left, bounced off of a closed door that goes into the butler’s pantry. One speedlight camera right bounced off a wall. A light in front of the camera bounced off the lower cabinets to light the near side of the island. The window left of center is open to remove reflections. Light in the dining room shot through an umbrella. Light behind the island and bounced off of it to light the far lower cabinets. Lightroom used to make RAW adjustments. A few small tweaks in Photoshop to tone down some of the hot spots and shadows. The client loved the image.

I’m leaving all the photos up in the contest flickr group so everyone can see and comment on the photos for the rest of March. Thanks everyone for all the educational comments and participation!

Stolen photo warning: Turns out that Brandon’s winning photo is hot in more ways than one! One of the PFRE jurors (Nick Jones) noticed that the website futurehomephoto.com has already stolen Brandon’s winning photo, has it in their portfolio and is representing it is theirs. Nice trick if you can get away with it! Nick noticed Brandon’s stolen photo because the same site had also stolen two of his photos. You might check to see if any of your photos are in this portfolio. Well at least they have good taste!

By the way, the guy that stole Brandon’s photo from the flickr pool is a total hack (http://www.futurehomephoto.com). His entire website and business model are also stolen from other sources. It’s sad.

Thanks guys! I sent an email to company that stole my work and the image is already taken down. Never ceases to amaze me how someone can blatantly steal work and pass it off as their own. Even when it looks nothing like what they offer.

While he has taken it down, wonder if he was going to defocus it like all the others. In addition to being a hack, also notice he is a realtor without acknowledging it. The only place it shows up is on his blog, and article about FSBOs and offers to rebate the cost of photography if he later lists it. Of course, the blog article could have been stolen, and he (or she) didn’t bother reading it.